Chocolate Chippyhttp://chocolatechippy.com
Witty & “waggish” animal related stationary & productsMon, 20 Jun 2016 14:43:21 +0000en-UShourly1Make It Rain!http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5447
http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5447#respondSun, 27 Sep 2015 01:57:43 +0000http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5447My VAE retail window display is up! As part of the Launch program, each Launcher gets to choose a month to install their window display to display their products. I started brainstorming what I wanted to do way back when and found a bunch of windows on Pinterest and the internet that I loved! Two of the ones I was most inspired by that fit my theme were the animal related ones.

I think I might love every Anthropology window ever displayed. And the one with the cat and all those colored balls of various sizes got me thinking. I needed balls. Lots and lots of balls in my display

As I got further into my process and started thinking more about what I could realistically do, I knew I wanted to hang tennis balls everywhere as well as display my products somehow. I ended up randomly thinking of the theme “make it rain” just because I thought it would be funny This brought me to some rain related inspiration:

I loved the colorful umbrellas hanging in the Palazzo in Vegas when I was there awhile back. And I loved the colorful raindrops and the dimension in the raindrops and clouds in the window displays above. I went so far as to design and cut rain drops and was going to hang those along with the tennis balls, but I didn’t like the way it ended up looking.

When I was little, I had this clear bubble umbrella that I absolutely loved. I planned on using this mannequin that some other Launchers had used in their display (lovingly named Tina) and thought the display would look great to have her (with her bubble umbrella, rain boots and rain coat) walking Chocolate Chippy. Turns out Tina didn’t quite fit into my display! I set her up in my living room and Chip strongly expressed his distaste for her haha. Something about the situation just wasn’t working out. Unfortunately, poor Tina is now in a garbage bag in storage at VAE haha (sorry Tina!)

I still loved the bubble umbrella, and decided to get two more! The guy at Target thought I was crazy…

The best thing you can do when creating a display like this is create everything to size. Luckily, as a graphic designer, I’m able to do everything exactly to scale using my computer and programs. For others, it might be a little guesswork, but you can sketch out a rough sketch and still get a good idea of what you’re working with. There were lots of updates to this document, but this is what I ended up with!

Instead of the raindrops, I tied a whole bunch of tennis balls to the umbrellas with fishing line. I never want to tie another tennis ball again!!!! BTW- a lot of tennis clubs donate their used tennis balls for free! I cut all the vinyl using my silhouette, and I put all my greeting cards in plastic sleeves (two per sleeve so when they turn on the line people can still see the design).

The best tip I can give you- prepare the best you can for the window, but go in knowing that the actual display won’t end up looking exactly like you planned! Plan for the unplanned. For example. the weather fit our theme “make it rain” the day of install. Because it was pouring outside, we couldn’t get all the vinyl on as planned because the windows were wet. Unfortunately, I had to leave for Buffalo the next day, so Chocolate Chippy’s tagline didn’t make it on the window. Another thing that happened was the tennis balls I had pre-tied to the umbrellas got super knotted. Also, when I hung the Chocolate Chippy logo sign where I planned for it to go, it didn’t look right because the bar up the middle of the windows cut it off and there was a blank space where the vinyl was supposed to go. But, since we planned for the unplanned, we made it work! I was super happy with the way it turned out! Of course, pictures just can’t do it justice!!

Make sure you stop by the Visual Art Exchange at 309 W. Martin Street, Raleigh, North Carolina 27601 to see it in person!

Hint hint- a great time to check it out would be this upcoming First Friday, which will be Friday, October 2nd. First Friday is a free self-guided tour of downtown’s cultural hot spots. Local art galleries, art studios, alternative art venues, and museums stay open late the first Friday of every month to welcome thousands of art-seeking enthusiasts downtown. It’s always so much fun!

Check it out and let me know what you think!

p.s.- please excuse my hair and the way I looked after setting up the window! That’s what happens when you “make it rain” and install vinyl in the pouring rain haha!

]]>http://chocolatechippy.com/?feed=rss2&p=54470Our First Craft Fair!http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5396
http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5396#commentsWed, 23 Sep 2015 20:58:15 +0000http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5396This weekend we did our first craft fair! And it was awesome. And crazy. And stressful. And tiring. And great! I’d say for our first craft fair, everything ended up going really well. It was BazaarSpark at SPARKcon. Apparently, more than 58,000 people attended SPARKcon this year. The booth came together and I met a lot of awesome customers and got a lot of great feedback on my work. I really enjoy meeting customers face to face because you get a real sense of what they’re looking for and what they like that you don’t get selling in stores or online.

Here are some pics of the booth and of the weekend:

Some things I learned:

Puppies!!! This was the highlight of my weekend! I had water bowls and milkbones at my booth so dogs dragged their owners over to stop and see me. And I loved every second of it, especially when there were adorable puppies involved!

Kids love Chocolate Chippy. I found that a lot of kids were drawn to my booth by the cute animals and bright colors. But I don’t have any kid products! This is the type of thing that is great to notice that you would never know without doing a craft show! Sooo be on the look out for some more kid friendly items! Let me know if you have any ideas.

Hang back a little. I’m used to doing trade shows where you’re selling a service, not a product. The last one I did was a wedding trade show. At these you really need to stand in the aisle and draw people in. I found at this show, people really wanted to come into the booth and shop around without feeling like someone was watching them. Since the booth wasn’t that big, if I was standing right inside, I think people felt a little weird about walking to the back of my booth where I had some products.

Prioritize. Take care of the things you absolutely need to (like having products in your booth and having a way to accept payment) and let go of the little projects that would be nice to have. I really wanted to paint paw prints on my curtains but just didn’t have to time. In the end, I didn’t even miss it and the booth looked fine without it. In fact, I think the paw prints would have ended up taking away from the overall booth.

Take time to enjoy the show. Bring helpers. I don’t know what I would do without my husband! That craft fair was a lonnnnnnng weekend. You’re working like crazy to get ready for it and then you’re working from early am to late pm selling your stuff and it is exhausting. Make sure you bring helpers so you can eat and even walk around and enjoy the show a little. It’s great to get out there and meet other vendors and people. Sometimes these connections are more important than the amount of items you sell.

Bring a cooler. I received this tip and it was one of the best. You need to eat and drink lots of water to keep your energy levels up. You’re on your feet and talking to people all day, and I know it’s happened to me before where I start to feel a little fuzzy. Usually some food and water help this!

Check the weather report. I did not do this haha. I just asked my husband if it was going to rain and he said no and that’s all I worried about. So I wore a tank top with a t-shirt over it, jeans, heavy socks and sneakers. I’d just gotten back from a trip to Buffalo so I guess I was still in the Buffalo weather mindset! And it was HOT! I was sweating like crazy. The sun was strong. I was baking. I ended up rolling up my jeans, taking off the tank top and socks and making do that way but I regretted my outfit choice. I was much more prepared for Sunday

Tina had a rough weekend. My friends at Curtis Blake Leather in the booth next to me have this quite infamous mannequin Tina. The amount of people taking a selfie with Tina was hilarious! She ended up in my booth at the end of the night…and she looked a little worse for the wear!

There are so many more tips I could give you! Just try to think through everything you need, and most of all, remember the important things! All the little things you can make due without.

And I have to thank the Visual Art Exchange (VAE) and their Launch program, because I wouldn’t be where I am today without them! They helped me start Chocolate Chippy and build it from the ground up to reach this point and helped out so much getting ready for the craft fair.

]]>http://chocolatechippy.com/?feed=rss2&p=53961RDU Baton- a day in the life of!http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5383
http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5383#respondThu, 06 Aug 2015 14:25:47 +0000http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5383Last week, I was super excited to hold the RDU Baton! The RDU Baton is a collaborative photo project where a person in the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham, Chapel Hill and their surrounding areas) takes over the RDU Baton’s Instagram for a day. Every day, a different person holds the baton and they post about all the wonderful things there are here in the Triangle, from fun things to do to great places to eat.

Here’s some of the shots I took- make sure to visit the full blog post to see all the captions and get all the info!

]]>http://chocolatechippy.com/?feed=rss2&p=53830Creative Mornings: Colloborationhttp://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5378
http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5378#respondFri, 31 Jul 2015 16:04:13 +0000http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5378As the owner of Chocolate Chippy and as an wedding invitation designer at Autumn Glow Design in Raleigh, NC, I love to stay connected with the creative community! That’s where CreativeMornings comes in! CreativeMornings is a breakfast lecture series for the creative community.

]]>http://chocolatechippy.com/?feed=rss2&p=53780Some Random Facts About Myselfhttp://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5353
http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5353#respondTue, 14 Jul 2015 14:39:42 +0000http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5353So…I tend to be an introvert. Because of this, many people have a hard time truly getting to know me. I always think it’s funny when I saw something that completely shocks someone and they say “Tracy…I never thought I’d hear that coming from you!” Today is just a brain dump with a ton of random, completely unmediated facts about myself that come off the top of my head. So…here are some “fun facts” you might not know about me!

My first job out of school was as a Jr. Copywriter at a small advertising agency, Flynn & Friends

I’m from Orchard Park, NY (Buffalo) and moved to Raleigh six years ago.

My first job in Raleigh was leasing apartments and an apartment complex in Raleigh

I’ve worked in a lot of different industries and had a lot of different jobs in my lifetime! I’ve been in restaurants, theme parks, health care organizations, hotels, apartments, software startups…and the list goes on.

I can’t wait to see where my business and life goes in the next few years!!!!

There you go…100 completely random facts about me I hope you got to know me a little better! Feel free to contact me if you want to learn a little more. I’d love to get to know you as well!

]]>http://chocolatechippy.com/?feed=rss2&p=53530New Retail Brand, Chocolate Chippy, to Offer Animal Related Stationary and Products for Animal Lovers With a Silly Sense of Humorhttp://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5263
http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5263#respondWed, 17 Jun 2015 21:02:24 +0000http://chocolatechippy.com/?p=5263RALEIGH, NC – May 26, 2015 – Tracy Maniaci has announced the launch of Chocolate Chippy, a retail brand that offers witty and “waggish” animal related stationary and products for animal lovers with a silly sense of humor. The brand is named after Maniaci’s Chocolate Labrador Retriever, Chip, who inspires many of the products and branding for the business.

“I’m one of those people who just loves their dog more than anything else. Chip is a silly Chocolate Lab with an enormous amount of personality and I want to share silly animal related items with all the animal lovers in the world that love animals and humor as much as I do!” says Maniaci.

Maniaci has always been an animal lover and recently became involved with the Launch Program, a year-long intensive for retail-minded artists through the Visual Art Exchange (VAE) in Raleigh, NC. Through guidance of the Launch Program, Chocolate Chippy was born when Maniaci’s passion for animals and design became apparent. This passion, love and talent are present in all the products that Chocolate Chippy offers. Products will range from greeting cards, stationary, and silly animal related items for pets and owners alike, amongst others.

Chocolate Chippy’s products are currently available at the VAE’s gallery at 309 West Martin Street with new inventory unveiled each First Friday and will also be sold in the SPARKcon bazaar in September.

Tracy Maniaci, the owner and designer behind Chocolate Chippy, is a designer and maker who channels her creativity into custom, unique designs and items. Maniaci also owns Autumn Glow Design, a small business that offers creative graphic design services, custom invitations, and handmade items for individuals, businesses and brides through this business.

Follow @chocolate.chippy on Instagram and visit www.chocolatechippy.com to learn more!